American novelist, short story writer, and educator. Molly Giles is considered one of the best contemporary American short story writers. Her first story collection, Rough Translations published in 1985, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. It also won the Pushcart Prize, Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, Small Press Book Award, Boston Globe Award, Bay Area Book Reviewers Award, and PEN Syndicated Fiction Award. Her second book, Creek Walk, was named one of the New York Times' most notable books of 1997. Her short story Two Words, won the 2003 O. Henry Prize. Giles, who has published book reviews in The New York Times, has also won The National Book Critics Circle Award for Book Reviewing. Iron Shoes, her first novel, was published in 2000. She served as the 2003 Lurie Professor of Creative Writing at San José State University and currently directs the Programs in Creative Writing at the University of Arkansas.